(All images by Fred Miller of LongIslandWallpapers.com, reproduced with permission)
Featured in our sister article about the ground instructional airframes assigned to US Navy aircraft carriers, this decommissioned YF-18A Hornet was used to train emergency crews aboard USS Harry S. Truman before its gaunt shell was moved to Fentress Naval Auxiliary Landing Field in Chesakeake, VA.
(Image: Fred Miller of LongIslandWallpapers.com)
Seen here in 2011, the Hornet (serial number 160776) is a relatively historic aircraft, being the second YF-18A prototype constructed and thus one of the earliest examples of the jet.
(Image: Fred Miller of LongIslandWallpapers.com)
But with the first prototype displayed at Virginia Air and Space Center in Hampton, it looks like the end of the road for 160776. With its canopy, rudders and other large parts long since removed, the forlorn shell now sits on a disused runway at NALF Fentress, used as a fire training aid.
(Image: Fred Miller of LongIslandWallpapers.com)
Interestingly, the stripped out cockpit has acquired an office chair in place of the original ejection seat! Click here to see 160776 in use aboard USS Harry S. Truman.
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